Feature

Assessing Pfizer's Future

The bull case for Pfizer in recent years has been that a shareholder-focused management team has played a difficult hand well, selling or spinning off noncore assets, returning a lot of cash to investors, and reviving the company's research capabilities. Pfizer has managed to get through some big patent expirations, including Lipitor, formerly its top-selling drug, without much earnings impact.

When it announces first-quarter profits on May 5, the drug giant may lay the groundwork for the next and most dramatic phase of...